Feeding mechanism



J. F. GAIL.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED r ms, 191'7.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. F. GAIL.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. a, 1917.

Patented Apr. 13, 19.20.

9 SHEETSSHEET 2.

J. F. GAIL.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 3| 1917.

1,336, 22, Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

J. F. GAJIL. FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3| I917.

1,336, 22, Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

jfwae/aa, Iwazm J. F. GAIL. FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION HLED FEB- 31 1917.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

mum

FEEDING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, 1917.

1 33 22 Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 6.

)7iFw/a i M I. F. GAIL.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. a, 1917.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. F. GAIL.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. s. 1917.-

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 8.

CIT:

1.. F. GAIL.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION. FILED FEB. 3. 1911.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

9 SHEETS-SHEET 9.

JOHN F. GAIL, 0F KENOSHA, WISCONSIN,

ASSIGNOR T0 snvnvioivs COMPANY, or

KEN OSHA, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

FEEDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

Original application filed February 7, 1916, Serial No. 76,577. Divided and this application filed February 3, 1917. Serial No. 146,375.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN F. GAIL, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of Kenosha, county of Kenosha, and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeding Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in edge band machines, and refers more particularly to the feeding mechanism of a machine for forming edge bands, to which links can be automatically formed and attached; the present application being a divisional of my earlier application, Serial filed February 7th 1916.

Among the objects of the invention are to provide novel means for feeding stock to be punched and severed into band blanks of proper length; to provide a construction in which the band edges are positively and accurately fed forward by the punch elements themselves; to provide a construction in which the various feeding and operating mechanisms are so timed that as the bands are punched and fed forward the links are formed and simultaneously secured to the bands inproper relation; to provide a construction in which the bands and links are respectively formed from continuous stock or reels; to provide a construction in which the operating mechanism is automaticall stopped, either when the supply of stock is exhausted or if the stock should buckle or feed improperly; to utilize a solenoid for automatically stopping the machine when the stock is exhausted or improperly fed; to operate the switch contacts by an arm or other intermediate member so that the circuit would'not be effected by operating -on either-metallic or non-metallic stock; to

provide anequal feed for a given number of operations and an unequal feed at predetermined intervals; to utilize an auxiliary carriage mechanism for positively producing a different throw than that produced by the main carriage; and in general to provide a simple and improved construction of the character referred to.

In the drawin s:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a machine embodying in invention.

Fig.- 2 is a top plan view of the machine shown Fig. 14

' connection.

Fig. 10 is an inverted plan view of the punch mechanism shown in Fig. 9.

Fig. 11 is a top plan view of the die mechanism, shown in F ig. 9.

F ig.'12 is a fragmentary plan view showing. the adjacent ends of two of the severed bands.

Fig. 13 is a fragmentary top plan view showing the manner of assembling the bands with the spring fabric.

Fig. 14 is a side elevation of the valve mechanism controlling the pneumatic action ofthe auxiliary carriage.

Fig. 15 is an end elevation of the casing, the valve being removed.

Fig. 16 is an end view of the valve controlling the Fig. 15.

Fig. 17 is an edge view of the valve shown in Fig. 16.

Fig. 18 is a side elevation of the mechanism for forming the connecting link.

Fig. 19 is a side elevation. taken at right angles to Fig. 18 of the parts shown therein.

Figs. 20, 21 are views of the link in various stages of its formation.

Fig. 22 is a view showing the link being attached to the band.

Fig. 28 is a sectional detail view of a traveling carriage.

Fig. 24 is a fragmentary plan view with ports of the casing shown in parts shown in dotted lines showing the I manner of reciprocating the carriage.

Fig. 25 is a fragmentary detail perspective view of a portion of the automatic stop mechanism.

The machine hereinafter described in dement of my invention shown in the drawings, l designates the supporting frame and 2 the bed which carries the operating mechanisms for forming the bands and links and partially assembling them; In general the machine comprises the following mechanisms adapted to produce a complete product b the various steps enumerated. 1. The ormation of the link receiving apertures. 2. The feeding forward of the band; and in the particular machine shown, the punching elements are used as the feedin elements. 3. The feeding of the wire stoc which forms the links. this stock into links of predetermined length. 5. The initial bending down of the severed link stock into the shape shownin Fig. 20. 6. The further bending of the link into the shape shown in Fig. 21. 7. The further bending of the link and attachin one of its ends to the band as shown in ig. 22' 8. The severing of the band tape at predetermined intervals so as to successively form bands, each of a predetermined length.

9. The simultaneous formation of apertures adjacent the, severed ends of the bands.

In additionto the above enumerated operations there are various minor functions and mechanisms, the properties of which will appear in the detail description of the genelrlal formation and operation of the ma- 0 me.

Taking up first in detail the formation of the link receiving apertures it will be no- I ticed that the band tape 3 in being fed from the reel 4 to the operating mechanism on the bed 2 first passes through a straightening 'device 5 and through the latter until it reaches the plane of the punch mechanism 6 which forms the apertures adapted to. rece 1ve the connecting links. As shown in Fig. 13 a plurality of these apertures 8 are formed along the edge 9 of the band 3 at predetermined intervals, the stock being fed forward by a longitudinal reciprocation of the punch element itself in addition to the vertical reciprocation which stamps out the metal to form the apertures. In general,

thepunch is mounted on a reciprocating carriage or bed 10, which bed after the punch element 11 has been moved downward through the band is adjusted forward along free end partially closed 4.. The severing of the bed plate 2, and moves forward a distance exactly e ual to the length required between the ad acent link receiving apertures. Then at its extreme forward movement the punch element 11 is reciprocated upward out of engagement with the band and while in this inoperative position the carriage 10 is returned to its initial position toward the rear end of the bed plate where it starts a new cycle of operations. The mechanism for imparting reciprocating motion to the carriage 10 comprises a main drive shaft 12 driven by a belt wheel 13 from a suitable source of power in the usual manner. At one end the shaft 12 is provided with a pinion 14 meshing with a gear 15 mounted within the housing 16. The gear 15 in turn is mounted on a cam shaft 17 and upon the latter is a feed cam 18 which upon each revolution of the cam shaft 17 rocks an arm 19, centrally pivoted at 20, and whichhas its opposite end 21 abutting against an anti-friction roller 21' carried by the carriage 10 so that upon rocking movement of the arm 19, the carriage 10 will be reciprocated longitudinally of the main bed 2 of the machine and return to normal by a spring 19.

In order to avoid the formation of a link receiving aperture 8 adjacent the severed ends 22 of the various bands the following mechanism is employed, which secures this result without interfering with the regular reciprocation of the punch elements as described in the preceding paragraph. The avoiding of the formation of a link receiving portion which will be ad- 'aperture at that mounted on .the reciprocating carriage 10 and caused at predetermined intervals to carry the punch 11 back a greater" distance than that of its normal throw. That is, for illustration, fourteen .of the apertures will be formed in the band at equal distances apart while between the fourteenth and fifteenth apertures the auxiliary carriage will be brought into operation and carry the punch back an additional distance so that between the fourteenth and fifteenth.apertures there will be a relatively long space left. The stock from which the bands are formed is then severed intermediate the last mentioned apertures.

In the present instance I have shown and described a pneumatically operated means for causing the reciprocation of the aux-- Lseepaa ible pipe 26 to the. left hand side of a piston his piston is connected in turn to the auxiliary carriage so that upon air being admitted to the left hand side of the piston 28, the latter will be forced toward the right and will .adjust the auxiliary carriage and cause the latter together with the punch to move an additional distance, besides the normal'reciprocation given to the carriage 10. The limit of movement of the auxiliary carriage i governed by an adjustable stop 29. Thus when the auxiliary feed has been brought into operation the punch will have been carried back the distance of the normal reciprocation of the main carriage 10 plus the additional movement produced by.

the action of the piston 28 on the auxiliary carriage 23. The carriage 1 0 is them adjusted back toward the left, that is, is moved forward its usual amount while in addition; the valve in the casing having been adjusted to close communication between the source of air and the flexible pipe 26 and open communication between the source of air and the flexible conduit 27, the air coming 'in on the right hand side of the piston 28 will push the same toward the left so that when the punch is drawn out of engagement with the edge band the latter will have been fed forward an extra length.

The detailed construction and operation of the valve in the casing 25 (which is shown in Figs. 14, 15, 16 and 17) is as follows: Leading from one side of the valve casing 25 is a-passageway 29 opening into the easing through a port 30. This passageway is in open communication with the flexible conduit 26 while its port 30 is controlled by the rotary adjustment of the valve disk 31, the compressed air being admitted into the casing on the opposite side of this valve disk. The latter has a port ter with the port 30, thus allowing the compressed air to flow through the registering ports 32 and 30, the passageway 29 and the flexible conduit 26 to the left hand side of the piston, moving the latter and the auxiliary'carriage 23 an additional distance toward the right.

Shortly after the port 32 moves out of registration with the port 30, the latter is i open to the exhaust channel 33 which connects by means of a radial channel 34 with the exhaust-pipe 35 formed in the hollow valve stem 36. This stem projects out through the casing 25 and is provided with a ratchet wheel 37. The latter in turn is operated by an eccentric 38 mounted on the shaft 17, this eccentric through the action of the ratchet dogs 39 and 40 causing a feed equal to two of the teeth on the ratchet wheel for each revolution of the shaft 17. Thus if the ratchet wheel 37 is provided with thirty teeth the valve 31 will make one com- 32 adapted upon each complete rotation of the valve to regis 'moved to the left in the manner just above described and the portion of the chamber on the left hand side of the piston 28 has been opened to exhaust, the portion ofthe chamber to the right of the piston 28 is opened to the source of compressed air supply by registration ofthe channel 41 with the port .42, which, through the passageway 43 connects with the flexible conduit 27. This channel 41 extends substantially around the disk valve so that the piston 28 is normally forced toward the left. When however, the ports 30 and 32 are in registration so that air pressure is exerted on the left hand side of the piston the port 42 is open to exhaust by its registration with the exhaust port 44, which'in turn is connected by a radial channel 45 to the exhaust pipe.

At the extreme ends of its longitudinal reciprocation, the punch has a vertical 'reiciprocation imparted to it by means of an arm 46 which is pivoted at 47 and has a pair of rollers 48 and 49 operated upon by a cam 50. The opposite end of the arm 46 is provided with a transverse bar member 51 fitting in a groove 52 of the punch mecha-' nism. 1n the position of the parts shown in Fig. 5, the punch is raised and owing to the action of the cam on the lower roller 49 will remain in this position during that time in which the punch mechanism is moving back toward the right of the machine. hen, however, the punch reaches its extreme adjustment toward the right the enlarged portion of the cam 50 acting on the upper roller will rock the lever 46 about its pivot and force the punch down through the band, and will hold it in this position while it is feeding forward, thus utilizing the punch element as the feeding means for advancing the band the exact distance.

Simultaneously with the formation and forward feeding of the band the stock for the links is fed forward and severed into the desired lengths and the links formed and attached to the band. The wire' 53 is fed from a reel or other suitable source of supply through the wire straightener 54 to the link severing and forming mechanism by means of a feeding mechanism which comprises an eccentric arm 55 mounted on the shaft 17 and adapted by rocking the arm 56 main body of the link and thus any danger to shift forward the slide block 57 on the slideway 58'and at the same time forcing the wire clamp 59 down into gripping engagement with the wire so as to feed it forward with the slide block. However, upon the return movement the clamp member 59 is released so that the slide block returns to the left without retracting thewire. When the wire has been fed forward a distance suflicient to make one of the links, it is acted upon by three reciprocating punch members 61, 62 and 63, each of which is normally held upward in inoperative respective'springs 64, 65 and 66. The first mentioned punch member serves to sever the wire into a length 67 and by forcing the ends down over the bending dies to ini-' tially bend down the ends 68 and 69 of the length 67. Vertical reciprocation of the shearing punch is produced by the action of a rock arm 71 which is pivoted at 72 and v has one end operatively connected tothe shearing punch while its opposite end is raised and lowered by the action of the cam 73 fixed to the shaft 17 The second punch member 62 is called the bending punch and is also mounted for vertical reciprocation and after the wire is severed into the proper length and the initial bends of the ends 68 and 69 produced, the link is bent into the shape shown in Fig. 21 by the downward movement of the bending punch 62. In turn this bending punch is caused to move downward by the action of a rock arm 74, one end of which is operatively connected to the bending punch while its opposite end is raised and lowered by the action' of a cam 75 mounted on the cam shaft 17. After the link has been bent into the shape shown in Fig. 21 its end 68 is forced through one of the link receiving apertures 8 formed in the edge band and the link and band at this stage of operation are positioned just above the bending die block 76 which is provided with recess seats 77 and 78. The closingpunch 63 is then forced downward by the cam 63 on shaft 17, acting through the pivoted lever 63, and the bent ends of the links pushed against the seats 7 7 and 78 so as to completely close the end 68 against the main portion "of the link and to partially close the end 69. Thus the link while being formed is automatically inserted and fastened to the edge band while the end which is to engage the fabric loops (as shown in Fig. 22) is partially closed. Therefore, in assembling the bed spring it is only necessary to hook the end 69 of the link into the proper fabric loop 79 and press the end 69 against the main portion of the link. It will be noticed that in theassembled position of the links their outer ends are forced directly against the position by the 7 945 is raised of a protruding end which would tear the bed clothing is avoided.

The next and last operation of the machine comprises the severing of the stock which forms the edge bands, and to which the links have been attached, into bands of proper length and to simultaneously punch one or more apertures 80 adjacent the severed end. As previously mentioned the line where the band is severed is intermediate the link receiving apertures which are spaced apart a greater distance than the remaining apertures.

This severing and punching mechanism comprises a die bed plate 81 within which is positioned a pair of removable die members 82 and 83, the latter being preferably reversible. That is, each of the die plate members 82 and 83 is provided with cutting recesses 84 and 85 and apertures 86 and 87. Only the portions which are positioned near the center are engaged by the punch 88 when the latter is reciprocated downward. There fore, in case the die plate member in use becomes dull, a new cutting edge can be presented by simply reversing the position of the die plate members. The punch 88 which cotiperates with the die plate members has an irregular shaped cutting member 89 and four projecting circular punches 90 which correspond with the apertures 86 and 87 formed in the die plate members. Thus, the downward movement of the punch member 90 will sever the stock into a plurality of bands, cut off curved edge portions 91 of the latter and simultaneously form in each of the adjacent ends a pair of apertures 80 which are used to receive the helical springs 92 that connect the edge band to the frame.

The mechanism which reciprocates the punch member 90 comprises a rock arm 93 having one end operatively connected to the punch member while its opposite end, that 1s,

and lowered by the action of an eccentric cam member 95. However, inasmuch as the cam member is driven from the main cam shaft 17 and it is only desired to operate the band shearing punch once for every fifteen revolutions of the cam shaft, means are provided for regulating the operation as follows: The eccentric 95 is loosely sleeved .upon the cam shaft .17 adjacent the fixed collar 96 and is adapted to be clutched thereto whenever the pin 97* is permitted to extend into the slot 98 in the fixed collar. This pin is pressed toward the collar by a spring 99 but is normally prevented from extending into the slot by a shoe 100 mounted on one endof a crank arm 101 which is pivoted at 102 and provided at its opposite end with a roller 103.

the end on the opposite side of the pivot A spring 104 v I tends to normally Withdraw the shoe out of operative position but is prevented from doing so by the action of a notched disk 105. Secured to the disk 105 is a ratchet wheel 106, the teeth of which are engaged by a dog 107 operatively connected to the slide block 57-. Thus as the latter reciprocates back and forth, the ratchet mechanisms moves the disk 105 one-fifteenth of a complate revolution until the deep notch 108 comes into registration with the roller 103. This releases the pressure on the roller 103 and allows the crank arm 101 under the action of the spring 104 to move the shoe out of operative position and permit the clutch pin to lock the eccentric to the collar. The eccentric then makes one complete revolution with the collar and by rocking the arm 93 forces the shearing punch 88 down to sever the band at the proper time in the cycle of operations. The various mechanisms and operations described comprise the general elements and functions of the machine but in addition I have provided means for automatically stopping the machine when the feed of either the band or the wire is other than normal. The main shaft of the machine is connected to the pulley by means of a friction clutch 110 which can be manually drawn into and out of operation by shifting the member 111, or automatically drawn out of operation by the retraction of the arm 112 when the solenoid 113 is energized. The energizing of this solenoid whenever the band buckles is automatically produced by the rotation of the movable contact member 114. This contact member is carried by a shaft 115 loosely sleeved in the bearing 116 and provided at one end with a slotted shoe 117. The band will normally pass through the slotted shoe without rocking the shaft 115 upon its axis but, should the band buckle or become twisted it will rock the shaft 115 axially and adjust the movable'contact member 114 into engagement with one of the stationary contact members 118, thus closing the circuit to the solenoid. The energizing of the latter will automatically shift the clutch out of engagement and stop operation of the machine.

The same solenoid is employed for shut: ting ofl" the machine whenever the supply of tape is exhausted. In passing from the reel 4 to the wire straightener 5 the stock for the band passes between a pair of contacts 120 and 121 and normally holds the latter up out of engagement with the former. If, however, the supply of stock becomes exhausted, the arm 122 on which the contact 121 is mounted will by the force of gravity drop down and bring the-contacts into engagement, closing the circuit and energizing the solenoid to automatically shut oif the operation of the machine.

' Similar means are provided for stopping the operation of the machine whenever the supply of wire to the link forming mechanism is exhausted and comprises the stationary contact 123, a movable contact 124; mounted on an arm 125 and normally held out of engagement by the wire holding the arm up againstthe force of. gravity. If however, the supply of wire is exhausted the gravity actuated arm will move the contacts into engagement closing the circuit and energizing the solenoid so as to release the clutch as described in connection with the automatic control for the band stock.

From the above description it will be noticed that after the operator has supplied the necessary reels or other amount of stock for the link and bands, the entire formation of the bands, links and their assembly is automatically produced and will continue as long as the machine is operating in its normal manner. It is therefore possible for each operator to take care of a number of machines and greatly reduce the labor cost in producing bed springs of this type. It is of course understood that various changes in the details of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of this invention and I therefore do not desire to limit the latter except as specified in the appended claims;

I claim as my invention:

In a machine for making edge bands, the combination with a main traveling carriage, of an auxiliary carriage slidably mounted thereon, a vertically reciprocating punch member carried by the carriage and adapted to perforate the band and means for holding the punch in engagement with the band during the forward travel of the carriages.

2. In a machine for making edge bands, the combination with a main traveling carriage, of an auxiliary carriage slidably mounted thereon, a vertically reciprocatin punch member carried by the carriage an nds, means for adapted to perforate the ba holding the punch in engagement with the band during the forward travel of the carriages, and means for holding the punch in normal inoperative position during the return movement of the carriages.

3. In a machine for making edge bands, the combination with a main frame of a traveling carriage having reciprocatory movement thereon, an auxiliary carriage slidably mounted on the main carriage, vertically reciprocating punching mechanism carried by the auxiliary carriage, means for feeding the band of stock to the auxiliary carriage, means for reciprocating punching mechanism to perforate the stock, means holding the punching mechanism in engagefor ment with the stockduring the forward movement of the carriages and means for holding the-punching mechanism out of enmembers apart While the stock engages said gagement with the stock during rearward movement of the carriages.'

4. In a machine for making edge bands, I

the combination with a main frame of a traveling carriage having reciprocatory movement thereon, :an auxiliary carriage sli'dably mounted on the main carriage, vertically reciprocating punching mechanism carried by the auxiliary carriage, means for feeding the band of stock to the auxiliary carriage, means for reciprocating punching mechanism to perforate the stock, means for holding the punching mechanism in engagement with the stock during the forward movement of the carriages, means for holding the punching mechanism outuof engagement with the stock during rearward move-] ,ment of the carriages, and means for moving the auxiliary carriage rearwardly beyond its normal movement at predetermined, intervals in the operation of the machine. 5." In a machine for making edge bands or the like, the combination with means for feeding stock of a clutch mechanism com trolling the feeding means, a solenoid releasing the clutch, means for energizing the solenoid when the stock'isnot fed in the usual manner, comprising a pair of normally separated electrical contacts, leverage mechanism positively holding the contact leverage mechanism in a normal manner.

6. In a machine for making edge bands,

the combination with means for feeding stock forwardly, of automatic stop mechanism for stopping the feed when the stock is not fed in a normal manner, comprising electrical mechanism controlling the driving power 'of the machine and having a pair of normally opened contact members and a spring controlled rocker arm'positively moving one of the contact members and adapted to engage the stock.

' 7. In a machine for making edge bands,

the combination with means for feeding from two supplies of stock, means for automatically stopping the feed from both stocks when ei er stock is exhausted, comprising electrical mechanism controlling the operation of the machine, a pair of contact memcarrying one contactmember of each pair and normally resting on the stock and bers associated with each stock, the lever adapted to close the contacts when the stock passes out of engagement with such lever.

7 JOHN F. GAIL. 

